Sewing-machine.



1. M. MERROW.

SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR- 6. 1916.

1 ,244,1 1 5. Patented Oct. 23, I917.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

INVENTURZ HisA'r'ru NEYs.

' J. M. MERROW.

swms MACHINE. I

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6, l9l6- INVENTURI Zfi fig/1044 His ATTORNEYPatented 001;. 23,1911? anr WW JosnPH M. MERROW, or HARTFORD,oonNEcTIcUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEMEREOW MACHINE COMPANY, or nanrronn,connncrrcur, A conronnr on or connncrrcur.

Application filed April 6,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. Mnnnow, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Hartford, county of Hartford, State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SewingMachines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the charactersofrefer ence thereon.

This invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to atype of machine adapted to produce upon the edge of fabric an ornamentalfinish composed of crocheted stitches. The formation of these stitchesmay be effected by an eye-pointed thread carrying needle, a latch hookand a chaining finger, the latter being associated with a needle plate,or work support, through which the needle reciprocates, while the latchhook, cooperative with the needle, follows a curved path extending aboveand below the needle plate, andmoves in a'manner to engage andconcatinate or enchain' thread about the chaining finger. T he resultingchain of stitches or edging is secured to the edge of fabric at thepoints of needle penetration as said fabric is advanced step-by step byfeed mechanism which may include the usual presser foot andreciprocating feed dog. If a fabric advancing movementof the latter iseffected for each stitch forming cycle of the needle and latch hook, aplain or bar finish is produced while ifsaid advancing movement ofzthematerial occurs only at intervals of several stitch forming cycles ashell finish is produced. The individual stitches are in each casepractically the same, but the characteror appearance of edgingproduced'is quite different. Various effects in the bar finish may beobtainedby changing the'spacing of the' needle penetrations, andfurthermore the bar finish and" shell finish may be combined to form"'anelaborate and attractive edging as will here- :inafter appear.

One-object of my invention is the'pro vision of devices in 1 associationwith "feed mechanism for. moving the; feed.- "dog into.

Specification of Letters Patent.

SEWING-MACHIN E.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

1916. Serial No. 89,457. 1 V

feeding relation with the work, certain of said devices being adjustableto vary the extent of advance imparted to the work by the feed dog. I I

A further object of my invention is the provision in a crochet machine,of means for controlling the feed devices, whereby the fabric to be sttched may be advanced at each stitch forming cycle or at intervals ofseveral stitch forming cycles. I r

The accompanying drawings illustrate in a Merrow shell stitch machineone form of embodiment of the present inventiomhaving assoc atedtherewith. certain co-active guide controlling devices similar to thoseset'forth' in apatent' application filed by me on the 2nd day "ofNovember, 1914, Serial No. 869,936. i In the drawings: I Figure 1, is afront side view of a crochet machine. I V Fig. 2 isan enlargedviewillustrating a combination of bar and shell stitch finish. I

Fig. 3, is aplan view of feed mechanismshowing my invention includedtherewith and in part certain other co-active devices. A

Fig. 4, is an end elevation of the machine shown'in Fig. 3, certainparts being omitted, and others broken away for clearness, and,'- g Fig.5. is a sectional'detail view on line 55 of Fig. 3. V v i Throughout theseveral views of the draw ings like characters of reference designatelike parts. T p Referring particularly to the drawings the stitchforming elements comprise the needle 1, crochet hook 2. chainingfinger3, and supplemental thread carrier 4. 'The' needleis mountedin .a bar 5,for recipro-" cation in a path extending through the needle or workplate 6 adjacent the chaining finger, and is driven'from the-main shaft28,- through intermediate elements as eccentric 9, connecting rod..10,lever 11", linklQyand needle bar clamp 13. Thecrochet'hook' 2,

held in carrier 14. isadapted torecip rocateing finger; said carrier14', being pivoted on";

a block 1.5, rslidably iriounted "on th'e 'innerirt face off :a frame"cap 1 6, wlierebysi rnovemeiitzr of said hook in the defined path may beimparted by a pair of intergeared grooved cam cylinders 17 and 18, whichare respectively engaged by oppositely extending arms 19 and 20 ofcarrier lat. Cam cylinder 17 rotates with the main shaft 8 of themachine, to which it is secured, andthrough gears 22 and 23, effectssimultaneous rotation of cam cylinder 18, which is mounted on shaft 2a.

The supplemental thread carrier l, is secured in a rock shaft 25,suitably mounted on the machine frame and provided with an arm 26,adapted to engage a cam 27, ro-

tative with cam cylinder 18. Arm 26, is yieldahly held against cam 2?,by a spring as 28, coiled about the rock shaft 25, whereby rotation ofsaid cam effects an oscillatory movement of carrier 4:, which causes thefree end of said carrier to move across the path of the needle. Thissupplemental thread carrier is not essential to ef ect the formation ofstitches but is preferably employed to introduce into the stitches anadditional thread to enhance tl e beauty of finish and produce a moresubstantial edge.

A fabric edge guide as 30, is adjustably attached to a slide 31, carriedby the frame cap, the latter also carrying a slide 32, for a purposethat will hereinafter appear. Fulcrumed on. a pivot 33, intermediateside 31 and 32, is a lever 34s, slotted at 35, to adjustably receive oneend of a link 36, said link being articulated at its other end to slide31. Upposite ends of lever 34, are provided respectively with a slot 37,to engage pin on slide 82, and a manipulating knob 89. Inasmuch asslides 31 and 32. are connected to lever 34-, on opposite sites of thefulcrum for the latter it will be readily understood that shifting o1manipulating knob 39, in either direction will cause the slides to moverespectively in opposite directions. 1 his slide mechanism together withcertain associated parts has been more fully described and claimed inthe above mentioned application Serial No. 869,936.

Work engaging feed elements comprise the usual presser foot a l, andfeed dog To permit of the required reciprocation of the feed dog it isassociated with a slide 46,, and in order that movement of the feed dogwith respect to the work may be rendered effective or ineffective toadvance the work, the slide is mounted in a shiftable member such as aguide bar 47, fulcruined at one end on a stud 48'. 'Obviously theposition of guide bar 47. determines the position of the feed dog withrespect to the work plate 6, and therefore, the relation of the feeddog, to work supported by. the work plate. Slide 46. which is fitted ina groove 50', of the guide bar, and laterally supported by a.

contiguous wall'bl, of the machine frame, is free. to be reciprocatedlongitudinally of:

the guide bar by mechanism indicated in a general v iy by 52. Thismechanism includes rock lever 53, connected by a link. 5%, with aneccentric 55, on the main shaft 8. At one end rock lever 53, isfulcrumed on a short shaft 56, and a its other end it is provided with aslot 57, adapted to receive a pin 58, rigid with slide L6, andprojecting through a slot 59, in guide bar lntermediateits ends, rocklever 53, is provit ed with an elongated slot 60, wherein a stud 61,connecting said-lever and link 54:, may be adjusted to vary the amountof throw imparted to the rock lever, thus regulating' the reciprocatorymovementof slide 46, and the feed dog 45, relative to the guide bar.From the foregoing description it will be apparent that when the machineis in opera ion the feed dog is continuously reciprocated. In otherwords a complete reciprocation of the feed dog occurs for each cycle ofthe stitch forming elements. The feed dog, however, is effective foradvancing the work only when the guide bar 47, is shifted to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 4, during intervals when said feed.dog is moving in the direction of arrow A. hen the guide bar 447, isthus shifted for each stitch forming cycle, the work is correspondinglyadvanced step by step and the nest is makes a separate penetration foreach stitch, the sulting finish being plain crochet, or bar stitch asshown at 6%, (see Fig. 2). If, however, the shifting of the guide bar iseffects: only at intervals of several stitch forming cycles, no advan esof the work will be effected except at tie end of such intervals, andconsequently a corresponding number of stitches will be secured atpractically one needle penetration and the finisn produccl will becomposed of clusters or shells as shown 65, (See Fig.

Mechanism for shifting the guide bar a7, is indicated in a general wayby 66. It includes a gear 68, mounted on a stud 69, and

' meshing with a pinion 70, at the extreme end of main shaft 8.Associated with gear 68, are the cams 71 and 72. Cam 71, is fitted onthe hub 73, of gear 68, and is adapted to be secured firmly, butadjustably against the inner face of said gear by screw 74:, and

indirectly by screw 75, as will appear. Cam 72, is fitted to a slightly.reduced. portion of gear hub 73', adjacent to cam 71, and is secured byscrew 75, the latter being countersunk in the gear, extended through anarcuate slot 7 6, in cam 71, and threaded into cam 72. The screw 75,maintains cam 72, in fixed relation to gear 68, and also serves tosecure cam 72. in clamping relation against cam 1'1. Gear 68, isprovided with an areuate. slot 77, countersunk to receive the headofscrew 7 L, which screw, as beforev intimated is threaded into cam 7Z1.By virtue of'thev slotmentioned, for moving the feed'dog, through theagency of intermediate parts, toward and from the work. The surface 85,is inclined with respect to element 86., and guide bar 47, so thatadjustment of the shoe along the guide bar will vary theposition of thefeed dog carried by the guide bar in respect to the work.

Interposed between cam 72, and guide barl7, Fig. 3) ish lever 87,supported at one end for rocking movement on a fulcrum stud 88, along.which the lever is also longitudinally movable for a purpose that willhereinafter appear. At its free end lever 87, is transversely bored toreceive the supporting element or pin 86, which is held in place by aset screw 89. A head 90, with which pin 86, is provided on one side oflever 87, is formed with a slot 91, therein, so that when lever 87,occupies the position in which it is shown in the drawings the head 90,will be engaged only by cam 71, because of the fact that the clearanceslot 91, during this particular relation of parts involved, is inregister with the path of the other cam 72. iVhen, however, the lever87, is shifted from the position in which it is shown in the drawings(to the right as seen in Fig. 5) the cam engaging part of head 90, ismoved from the path of cam 71, and into the path of cam 72. It will beclear that both cams 71 and 72, are adapted to impart an oscillatorymovement to lever 87, and inasmuch as the shank of pin '86, extends atall times into engagement with shoe 81, it will also be clear that theoscillatory movement mentioned will be imparted to guide bar 17. Toinsure against failure of shoe 81, to firmly engage pin 86, there isprovided a spring 92, housed in a bore of the machine frame and adaptedto exert suitable pressure against that side of the guide bar which isopposite to said pin 86. To prevent excessive movement of lever 87, whencam 72, passes the cam engaging part of head 90, there is provided astop 93, to engage the opposite end. of pin 86.

In the present case the gear 68, has eight times as many teeth aspinion. 70. As said pinion is on the main shaft 8, which makes onerevolution to each stitch forming cycle, it follows that eight stitcheswill be formed during eight revolutions of the pinion or one revolutionof the gear. Cam 71, having eightpomts or rises, and cam 72, with theone rise, rotate with the gear and therefore their respective eflect onthe feed mechanism thus shifted it is connected to slide 32, by a bar 9l,which is provided with a'yoke 95, to engage the hub of lever 87, in amanner to permit rocking movement of said lever. The slide 32, hasalready been described as simultaneously operable with the slide v31,which controls edge guide 30. This arrangement insures a suitableadjustment of'the edge guide, which requires a different setting for thetwo styles of finish produced respectively by cam 71, and cam 72, asshown in Fig. 2. That is the plain finish 64, is preferably secured deeer into the margin of the work than the shell finish 65. It will beunderstood that proper shifting of the edge guide is effectedsimultaneously with 'adjustment to give the desired style of stitch, bysimply manipulating lever 34.

Referring to. Fig. 4, variations in the work advancing effect .of thefeed dog as regulated. by'certain adjustments of the feed controllingmechanism will now be described. The feed dog is suitably effective foradvancing the work only when its teeth are more or less above the worksupporting surface and moving in the direction of arrow A. /Vhen saidfeed dog is maintained in this effective position throughout itsadvancing stroke, the maximum feed occurs. feed is suitable forproducing the shell finish and is effected through agency of cam '72,which it will be noted is formed with a relatively long dwell at theextreme of its throw. The rises in cam 71,7are very much more restrictedand therefore maintain the feed do in effective position only during apart 0 its advancing stroke thereby giving a lesser degree of feed whichis suitable for the plain stitch. This feed for plain stitching, is, initself preferably variable to produce different lengths of stitch andsuch variations I make provision for in a manner, involving theadjustment of cam 71, relative to gear 68. By virtue of the fact thatthe feed dog derives its work advancing movement from an eccentric, suchmovement is of variable velocity, that is it is moving faster at themiddle of its stroke than at the beginning and end thereof. Therefore ifsaid feed dog is held in effective feeding relation to the work at themiddle of its stroke for a given period it will advance the work fartherthan when it is held in effective feeding relation with the work for a.like period to Such a' ward either end of its stroke. It will beapparent then, that if cam 71, when in the relation to gear 68, in whichit is shown in Fig. 4, is effective to move the feed dog into feedingrelation with the work when said feed dog is at the middle of itsstroke, a comparatively long stitch will be formed, while if said cam isadjusted around to the right as seen in Fig. it will be effective tomove the feed dog into feeding relation with the work, when said feeddog is at or toward one end of its stroke, and the resulting stitch willbe correspondingly short. Within the range of adjustment provided forcam 71. any feed of the work, which is suit able for the class ofstitching involved, may be produced.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is,

1. in a sewing machine, a feed dog, a shiftable support for the feeddog, means including a rotary shaft for reciprocating the feed dog withrespect to its support, a pinion on the shaft, a gear meshing with thepinion, a. pair of cams of different contour secured to the gear, and adevice contiguous to the feed dog support provided with a cam engagingportion shiftable wholly into the path of either of said cams, wherebythe feed dog may be moved into work engaging relation through differentlengths of its reciprocatory movement.

2. In a sewing machine, a feed dog, means for reciprocating the feeddog, mechanism including cams of different contour for moving the feeddog into work engaging relation, and a device associated with the feeddog provided with a cam engaging portion shiftable wholly into therespective path of any one of said cams.

3. In a sewing machine, a feed dog, mechanism including a rotary shaftfor reciprocating the feed dog, a pinion on the shaft, a

gear meshing with the pinion, a pair of cams secured to the ear andadapted respectively to move the feed dog into work engaging relationthrough different lengths of the reciprocatory movement of the feed dogand a device for transferring motion. from the cams to the feed dog,said device being adapted when moved into the path of either of saidcams to clear the path of the other cam.

4. In a sewing machine, a feed dog, a shiftable support for the feeddog, means for reciprocating the feed dog with respect to its support, aplurality of cams each operable to reciprocate the feed dog support in adifferent relation to reciprocatory movement of the feed dog, a movabledevice extending between the feed dog support and the cams and a pincarried by said device, said pin on one side of the device being inconstant engagementwith the feed dog support and on the other side ofthe device having a head recessed to form a cam engaging portion whichfor different positions of the device is adapted to lie wholly withinthe path of a respective cam.

5. In a sewing machine, a feed dog, means including a gear and a pair ofcams for differently actuating the feed dog and means for securing thecams to the gear comprising a screw extending through three of theelements to be secured and a screw extending through two of saidelements, the intermediate element being slotted to permit lateralmovement of one of the screws and one of the other elements beingslotted to permit lateral movement of the other screw whereby relativeadjustment of the cams may be effected.

. JOSEPH M. MERROW. Witnesses:

F. N. SPELLMAN, F. E. ANDERSON.

Copies or this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Eatents,

' Washington, I). 0.

